Political Capital » Robert Litanhttp://go.bloomberg.com/political-capital
Politics blog featuring the latest news and analysis from Washington and the US. Political editors provide insights & data about today’s politics.Thu, 07 Aug 2014 19:48:32 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.8.2Bloomberg by the Numbers: $56 Billionhttp://go.bloomberg.com/political-capital/2014-03-05/bloomberg-by-the-numbers-56-billion-2/
http://go.bloomberg.com/political-capital/2014-03-05/bloomberg-by-the-numbers-56-billion-2/#commentsWed, 05 Mar 2014 10:00:37 +0000http://blogs.edit.bloomberg.com/political-capital/?p=123049President Barack Obama’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2015 includes $56 billion for what the White House calls an “Opportunity, Growth, and Security Initiative.” The added spending, part of a $3.9 trillion budget request the Obama administration released yesterday, would boost outlays for education, research, infrastructure, public health and weapons modernization. The new funding would […]

Government Printing Office staff members arrange copies of President Barack Obama’s Fiscal Year 2015 Budget in Washington, D.C. on March 4, 2014.

President Barack Obama’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2015 includes $56 billion for what the White House calls an “Opportunity, Growth, and Security Initiative.”

The added spending, part of a $3.9 trillion budget request the Obama administration released yesterday, would boost outlays for education, research, infrastructure, public health and weapons modernization. The new funding would be split between defense and non-defense spending.

The $56 billion would be in addition to the $1.014 trillion in discretionary spending that was set under a two-year budget agreement enacted in December.

The spending levels set by that agreement “simply are not sufficient to ensure that the Nation is achieving its full potential in creating jobs, growing the economy, and promoting opportunity for all,” Obama’s Office of Management and Budget said in a budget document.

The new spending would be offset in part by closing a tax preference and making changes to spending programs dealing with spectrum auctions and Transportation Security Administration fees, according to the document.

“It is extremely disappointing that the President’s proposal today blatantly disregards the budget limits for fiscal year 2015″ and “ignores the hard-fought compromise he so recently endorsed,” Rep. Hal Rogers, a Kentucky Republican who leads the House Appropriations Committee, said in a statement.

“Given the current partisan political climate, there is little chance Congress will approve the president’s new spending initiatives and offsets,” Robert Litan, Bloomberg Government’s Director of Research, said in a BGOV fact sheet.

Republicans lead the House by a 232-199 margin. Democrats control 55 of the 100 Senate seats and probably will lose ground in the chamber, if not control of it, as they defend 21 of the 36 seats on the Nov. 4 ballot.

“Democrats seeking House and Senate seats in the 2014 midterm elections are likely to tout some or all of those spending initiatives (perhaps with some of the offsets) as key differences between them and their Republican counterparts,” Litan wrote.

Obama’s budget predicts that gross domestic product will rise 3.1 percent this year, which would be the strongest growth since 2005, Bloomberg’s Kasia Klimasinska reported.

For more about Obama’s budget proposal and the congressional reaction to it, see this Bloomberg News story by Roger Runningen and Derek Wallbank.

]]>http://go.bloomberg.com/political-capital/2014-03-05/bloomberg-by-the-numbers-56-billion-2/feed/0Fiscal Cliff Deal No Deficit Solutionhttp://go.bloomberg.com/political-capital/2012-12-03/fiscal-cliff-deal-no-deficit-solution/
http://go.bloomberg.com/political-capital/2012-12-03/fiscal-cliff-deal-no-deficit-solution/#commentsMon, 03 Dec 2012 11:30:20 +0000http://blogs.edit.bloomberg.com/political-capital/?p=54677One might think, given all the debate over tax increases and spending cuts and averting a “fiscal cliff” at year’s end, that the White House’s pursuit of a $4-trillion, 10-year solution suggests the government’s habit of deficit spending could be cured. One might be wrong. “It will take almost $6 trillion in deficit reduction during […]

Speaker of the House John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell emerge from the White House on Nov. 16, 2012.

One might think, given all the debate over tax increases and spending cuts and averting a “fiscal cliff” at year’s end, that the White House’s pursuit of a $4-trillion, 10-year solution suggests the government’s habit of deficit spending could be cured.

One might be wrong.

“It will take almost $6 trillion in deficit reduction during the next decade to make a minimum down payment that puts the nation on a sounder fiscal footing.”

This is the conclusion of a Bloomberg Government study that examines the ratio of federal debt to the nation’s gross domestic product.

That ratio stands at about 73 percent today.

The “most likely” package to come out of the negotiations over averting the fiscal cliff of automatic tax increases and spending cuts scheduled at year’s end — that $4 trillion agreement — would allow the ratio of debt to GDP to grow to 80.2 percent, the BGov study shows. The study, written by BGov Director of Research Robert Litan and three other analysts, shows that it would require a $5.9-trillion, 10-year deficit reduction plan to hold the debt-to-GDP ratio at today’s level.

And holding course is not the most prudent course.

“`A 60 percent debt-to-GDP ratio is considered the financially sound level for countries to maintain,” Litan and company write. That would require a $9-trillion plan, more than double what’s likely to come out of the cliff talks.

]]>http://go.bloomberg.com/political-capital/2012-12-03/fiscal-cliff-deal-no-deficit-solution/feed/0House Budget: A Document Where Big Ideas Often Go to Diehttp://go.bloomberg.com/political-capital/2012-08-13/house-budget-a-document-where-big-ideas-often-go-to-die/
http://go.bloomberg.com/political-capital/2012-08-13/house-budget-a-document-where-big-ideas-often-go-to-die/#commentsMon, 13 Aug 2012 19:55:42 +0000http://blogs.edit.bloomberg.com/political-capital/?p=23723“House Budget Committee Chairman” may sound like a top-tier power position to people outside the Beltway. Insiders know the committee as something much different: a place where nothing important happens very often. However, Paul Ryan’s addition to the Republican presidential ticket has suddenly thrown the spotlight on the work of the Budget Committee. As chairman, […]

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan works with Republican members of the committee on Capitol Hill in Washington before introducing his "Path to Prosperity" debt-reduction plan.

“House Budget Committee Chairman” may sound like a top-tier power position to people outside the Beltway. Insiders know the committee as something much different: a place where nothing important happens very often.

However, Paul Ryan’s addition to the Republican presidential ticket has suddenly thrown the spotlight on the work of the Budget Committee. As chairman, Ryan was the architect of several wide-ranging budget proposals, creating a large record of his positions spanning the full breadth of the federal government.

Before his selection as Mitt Rommey’s running mate, Ryan’s position as the 5th Ranking Republican on the Ways & Means Committee — which plays a crucial role in creating legislation on taxes, trade and Medicare — was arguably as important as his Budget chairmanship.

The Budget Committee’s main product – the annual congressional budget resolution — is usually done with debate before summer arrives. The committee’s work for the rest of year consists mainly of holding little-watched hearings on fiscal and monetary policy.

Even if the House and Senate reach agreement on a budget resolution — an increasingly rare accomplishment — the document doesn’t have the force of law and never goes to the president for his signature. Instead, it’s a nonbinding blueprint for taxes and spending.

It’s a document where big ideas often go to die.

Ryan’s addition to the Republican ticket has breathed new life into his work on the Budget Committee. Robert Litan, director of research for Bloomberg Government, and Christopher Payne, a senior economic analyst for BGov, have explained in detail how Ryan’s record on the committee dramatically raises the stakes for the upcoming election.

“With his pick of U.S. Representative Paul Ryan as his running mate, Mitt Romney now agrees with President Barack Obama on at least one thing: this election is about big choices,” Litan and Payne write on BGov.com

As vice president, Ryan would be in a far stronger position to turn the big ideas in his Budget Committee blueprints into actual policy.

And as the record of his Budget Committee work becomes clearer, Ryan’s new inside track to the White House has energized the bases of both political parties.